Author
Topic: Bunny Outside? (Read 2947 times)

I have to say I have more animals in my house then humans There is 2 adults and 3 kids (which same sex and share a room) My son sleeps in our room but in his own bed.....I have 2 cats 125 gallon fish tank filled with hermit crabs (in my dining room) a critter nation (5 rats... 3 I own, 2 I foster) and a ferret nation (empty) in my living room....a 55 gallon fish tank with frogs (at the top of the stairs) and in my supposed Son's room I have a ferret and a bunny.....My son will be 4 in June and really needs to transit into his own room....for all of his life he shared a room with us.....we moved from a 2 bedroom into a 3 bedroom house and the initial move resulted in him trying to climb in our bed and falling out and obtaining a concussion....so we choose to have him be in the room to defused him crawling into our bed.....the bunny has a newly upgraded cage with a lot of space being needed (I posted a picture in the bunny section) and I just don't have the space for it....I would like to have an animal room but my son needs his own room......the bunny and ferret are being watched by myself for a family member who went out of country for 2 years....I would like to place an animal in the ferret nation but currently the ferret is not litter trained and will back its butt up anywhere and poop and pee....so I don't want a bigger messier cage to clean just need to downsize a little and don't have many options....the Bunny digs A LOT in the cage she uses as a litter pan and I worry about the ferret nation shelf being ruined....and could a bunny even fit in there? I asked my husband what If I put the bunny outside and he mentioned "Ticks and fleas" I know other people have kept bunny's outside....especially in the nice weather...? short of screaming and pulling my hair out I really don't know what to do.....My heart is bigger than my home and I need to do something....I don't want to put the bunny in a small cage again that is not fair.....any ideas?

Do you have a garage? I am not fond of animals living on their own outside. To many dangers, especially for rabbits in hutches. I know many people do it but I have two friend who a long time ago had outside buns and one was let out by the neighbors kid and was killed and the other was killed by a neighbors dog in her hutch. A garage, basement or shed would be safer places.

Logged

"This is the beginning of a new day.You have been given this day to use as you will. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it.When tomorrow comes,this day will be gone forever; in it's place is something that you have left behind, let it be something good."

I know some people buy concrete mixing pans to place in the bottom of Critter/Ferret Nations, in order to hold bedding. You get something like that and put the ferret in the FN. I've seen little things that you can stretch across the corners of ferret cages to prevent them from using those corners as bathrooms, you could use those to keep him from peeing off the sides of the shelf.

Edit: I found them! These things coupled with a corner litter box could let you put the ferret in the FN. They'd limit which door you could open, but that would be better than dealing with ferret waste all over your floor!

Just a driveby post, cause I didn't read thoroughly, just answering the initial question. There are people who house their bunnies outside, but I've never done it. However, rabbitsonline.net has a really large member base and informative threads on how to safely keep your rabbit outside, you might want to check them out.

In theory you CAN house any animal outdoors. Not saying you should, in fact, in many cases you shouldn't.

I have an outdoor room for my rabbits. I show and breed (though not often anymore on either and consider myself semi retired, mostly because my Great Aunt lives with me and has Alzheimers so I am taking a break, though I do have 2 planned litters I can't put off much longer). Anyway, the room is insulated and complete with an exhaust fan and has it's own cooler (so it's climate controlled).

Rabbits can tolerate the cold MUCH better then the heat. Where I live, we stay in triple digits during the summer. I could never keep a rabbit outside during the summer, they would die from heat stroke. Even in the shade it's 90*.

Also, I have noticed, when people keep their rabbits outside they see the rabbit as a mere possession and not a member of the family.

If you MUST keep your rabbit outside, make sure the cage is very sturdy and secure. I do not recommend wire bottoms for outside, but if you do use wire bottom have something under it. I have fostered rabbits that lost toes because stray dogs went under the wire and attacked the rabbits. A solid top is also a good idea. Make sure the cage is placed in shaded area, out of direct sunlight and make sure the rabbit is protected from rain and wind. Always have some sort of hut inside the cage for the bunny to hide in. Have a smaller cage or carrier handy in case the weather is so bad you need to bring bunny inside.

BTW, when I adopt a bunny it's stated in my contract that the rabbit is not to be outside without human supervision at all times. Not sure where bunny came from but you might want to make sure it doesn't violate any contracts.

Thanks for all the advice!!! There has been some changes in the house since my posting My son is in his room (no longer in our room) the ferret and bunny I acquired from a family member who posted on face book looking for someone to "animal sit" I offered since family and I love animals! I found out they need someone to animal sit for 2 years while they teach in another country..... I was in shock but had already offered Next time I will ask a series of questions before I speak out But I took away my husband’s man cave….yes I know he was not happy But I needed a place for the bunny and the set up is huge and I didn’t want to stick her in the basement my busy days I would end up forgetting about her….but she is in the spare room we have off the living room and it actually has a fan so if it gets hot I can turn in on